Next Up: Raising the Debt Ceiling

By Dustin Stockton

The last-second deal to prevent a government slowdown was disappointing, not because we should never deal with Democrats, but because the Republicans could have forced more significant cuts.

A $38 billion cut is not completely insignificant but will only be acceptable if it is just one of many cuts that the Democrats are forced to concede. If Speaker Boehner and the Republican members of the House can continue to extract spending reductions without exposing themselves to political danger, then they will have executed a masterful strategy that should be applauded. If, however, they prove to be unwilling to expose themselves to political risk and allow Harry Reid and President Obama to dictate the political debate, they will lose our support.

The next big fiscal debate will be on the impending collision with the debt ceiling. When the debate on raising the debt ceiling begins in earnest, it will sound much like the debate on the most recent continuing resolution. Except this time, President Obama is on much shakier political ground. On one of the few occasions that President Obama made a vote that was not cast as “present,â€